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ONION RAISING; 



WHAT KrN'DS TO KAISE, 



THE WAY TO RAISE THEM. 



SIXTEENTH EDITION', (REVISED.) 



JAMES J. H. GREGORY, 

SEED GROWER, MARr.LEHE.\D, MASS. 

36, 1^1 



MARBLEHEAD : 

MESSENGER STEAM PRINTES'G HOUSE. 
1880. 



Entered according to act of Congress, in the year iSca, 
By JAMES J. H. GREGORY, 
the Clerk's Omce of the District Court, District of Massachusetts. 

f»t. Office Lib. 
. 4»rU 



ONION RAISING 



WHY I WRITE THIS TREATISE. 

In common with my fellow- seedsmen I frequently receive 
letters from my farmer friends, in different parts of the United 
States, asking for information^ on Onion Raising. It is im- 
possible in a letter sheet to give sufficient minuteness of de- 
tail ; I therefore send out this little treatise, in which I have 
endeavored to cover very minutely the whole ground of in- 
quir}^ I trust that it will prove acceptable. 

SELECTING THE SOIL. 

Onions are an exception to the general rule, — they thrive 
best on old ground, with the exception of an increased liabil- 
ity to injury from rust or smut. I recently examined an acre 
of land which had been planted continuously with onions for 
three generations \^ithout perceptible decrease in the quantity 
or quality of the crop. 

Onions are sometimes successfully raised by plowing up old 
pasture land in September, thoroughly harrowing it before 
frost sets in, and in the spring working in fine manure ver\^ 
thoroughly with the harrow and cultivator. The result of 
such planting is to get a crop very free from weeds, Vvith 
onions usually coarse, and more or less of scallions. 

(3) 



4 



Onions can be raised on a variety of soils, but yield the 
most satisfactory returns on a sandy loam, a gravelly soil, or, 
to state a general rule, on those soils which are light in struc- 
ture. As onions are brought on the heavier soils, the first ef- 
fect vdll be a deterioration in their appearance, the outer skin 
of the yellow varieties, losing its fine, clear, translucent yellow, 
and becoming thicker, duller, and less attractive in appear- 
ance. If planted on a wet or very hea\y soil, the crop will 
mature late, if it matures at all, giving a large proportion of 
that dread of the onion grower, scallions, or ^^scullions'* as 
farmers term them, meaning those whose growth runs mostly 
to the neck, forming little or no bulb or bottom. With plenty 
of manure onions will thrive well on soil that is very gravelly. 
I have seen very large crops grown on Marblehead Neck, on 
land so stony, that, after a rain' on an area of many square 
yards not a particle of soil could be seen, nothing but small 
angular fragments of porph}Ty, with thrifty onions springing 
as it were out of the ver}^ rocks. Let it be understood, how- 
ever, that this soil was not of a leachy nature, but rested on a 
hard-pan bottom. The area of land selected should be free 
of all large stones, as such interfere seriously with the straight- 
ness of the rows, the planting, hoeing and general cultivation 
of so small-sized a product. Ultimately, good cultivators 
clear their onion grounds of large loose rocks by blasting or 
sinking them ; obviously, the sooner this is done, the larger 
are the returns received from such judicious investments. The 
land should be laid out in as nearly a square as practicable, 
;as this facihtates estimates of manure, seed, and crops, gives 
greater regularity to the work, and economizes in the cultiva- 
tion of a crop which requires a great deal of passing over. 
To protect the crop from the washing of heavy showers, the 
land should be level or very nearly so, otherwise a rush of 



5 



water will bare the roots of some, and heap the earth around 
the necks of others, to the injury of each. 

PREPARING THE SOIL. 

Don't plant a weedy soil to onions, or land which abounds 
in witch, or couch grass ; if you do, you will repent it on 
your hands and knees all summer long, for such soil ^^'ill usu- 
ally require two more weedings than that on which weeds 
have not been allowed to ripen their seed. To have to keep 
down witch grass with your fingers in an onion bed is a mis- 
erable business, tearing up the onions and your patience at 
the same time ; better delay a year, and meanwhile clear the 
land thoroughly by a diligent use of the cultivator and hoe^ 
finishing in the fall by throwing the land into ridges that the 
freezings and thawings of winter may act destructively on the 
roots of the witch grass. Should any scattered shoot of this, 
grass show itself in the spring, let the roots be carefully re- 
moved with a fork or spade before the land is plowed. 

When onions are planted on land full of the seed of weeds 
it is well, if the season is an early one, to give sufficient time 
for the first crop of weed seed to start before planting the on- 
ions. 

In the Eastern States it is found, as a general rule, that suc- 
cess with the first crop of onions is affected by the crop which 
grew in the land the previous year, and that onions ^viYL follow 
carrots better than any other crop ; next to carrots, corn and 
potatoes are ranked as good preparers of the ground, while to 
succeed well with onions where cabbage or beets were raised 
the previous year is comparatively rare. Were there no other 
reason, the clean tilth which carrots insure makes it an excel- 
lent crop to precede onions. In the fertile lands of the west, 
the method of procedure is briefly this : Land on which grows 



the bush-hazel is selected, if accessible, the bushes cut down 
and the turf surface but little more than pared in spring with 
the plow. In this condition it is usually allowed to remain a 
season, exposed to the drying effects of the sun, when it is 
most thoroughly harrowed and raked, and all the numerous 
roots and waste are burnt, the land plowed to a moderate 
depth, and the seed sowti either broadcast or in drills. 
Should the early part of the season prove very wet, the crop 
sowed broadcast is at times smothered under a rapid growth 
of weeds, while with a favoring season as high as 800 bushels 
to the acre have been harvested. 

After the harvesting of the crop which is to precede onions, 
let the land have a fall plowing, and be thrown up into ridges, 
which will not only help destroy noxious weeds and witch 
grass as above stated, but will leave the land hght, in a con- 
dition to be worked successfully early in the spring — a great 
desideratum for a crop that usually requires the entire season 
to mature it. 

THE MANURE. 

Onions require the very best of manure, in the m^ost tempt- 
ing condition, and plenty of it at that. Peruvian guano, fish 
guano, pig manure, barn manure, night-soil, kelp, muscle 
mud, superphosphate of lime, wood ashes, and muck are, 
either alone or in compost, all excellent food for the onion. 
Old ground, to maintain it in first-rate condition, should re- 
ceive from six to eight cords of manure to the acre ; while 
new onion ground, to get it in first-rate condition, should re- 
ceive from eight to ten cords of manure. When Peruvian 
guano was held at about sixty dollars per ton, experienced 
farmers believed that no purchased manure paid as well as 
this on old beds, provided two applications were made, one 



1 



of about 500 lbs. to the acre, to be raked in at the thiie of 
planting, and the other of like amount to be applied broad- 
cast when the onions were about half growTi. Those who 
used but one application at the time of sowing were apt to 
see surprising effects in a fine growth up to the period of half 
maturity of the crop, and an equally surprisingly effect in but 
little growth from this time through the remainder of the 
season. Those who have used guano freely on their onion 
lands in the vicinity of Philadelphia assert that one singular 
result is, that, after applying it for three years in succession, 
the seed onions for the most part fail to sprout in such soil, 
and when seed is planted it makes but httle growth after 
vegetating. As far as I have observed, superphosphate of 
lime used as a manure for a series of years is apt to give the 
first of these results. Pig manure is held in high esteem by 
many successful growers of onions in southern New England. 
Fish guano applied at the rate of a ton to the acre has given 
very fine crops. 

In the vicinity of large to\\iis, where night-soil can be 
readily obtained, no more efficient manure can be applied 
than a compost of this and muck that has been exposed 
to a winter's frost, or good loam, in the proportion of 
three parts muck or loam to one part night-soil. If with 
this compost bam manure and sea manure are mixed, so 
much the better ; for it is a rule for this as for other crops 
that a. combination of manures in an arithmetical ratio will 
produce results approaching a geometrical ratio. To make a 
compost of loam or muck and night-soil, select a spot very 
near the piece to be planted, and cover the ground vdth 
either to the depth of a foot or eighteen inches ; then raise a 
bank of the same material surrounding this floor to the height 
of three or four feet, ^\'ith a thickness of from four to six feet. 



8 



The carts containing night-soil are backed up against this re- 
ceptacle, and the door being unscrewed, the contents shoot 
out. If barn manure is used, it usually forms part of the sides 
of the receptacle. During the winter the frosts act on the 
heap to the further sweetness and disintegrating of it, and to- 
wards spring the mass is pitched most thoroughly over, being 
mixed and made as fine as possible, — sand when obtainable 
having been either previously, or being subsequently liberally 
mixed with it, which so "cuts" or separates it that it remains 
light and fine. After an interval of about a fortnight, allow- 
ing time for fermentation, the heap is again pitched over for 
fining and mixing, and, occasionally, three mixings are made. 
It w^ould be well for tourists to avoid the onion districts at this 
season of the year, as a little experience will amply satisfy 
them. 

These composts should not be made on the ground where 
the onions are to be planted, for neither onions nor any oth- 
er crop will grow on such spots the same season. 

Where superphosphate of lime is used, it is best to make 
two applications, as with guano. The results of the use of 
superphosphates are not always satisfactory, but I have seen 
eight hundred pounds applied to the acre produce as good 
results as seven cords of rich compost applied side by side. 

Muscle mud obtained from the sea-coast is rarely used 
alone, though large crops are sometimes raised on old onion 
ground by the application of this alone, at the rate of eight 
cords to the acre. It appears to give the best results a few 
miles inland. The strength and consequent value of this ma- 
nure varies considerably ; and here let me add that the value 
of all animal manures will be found to vary greatly; other 
things being equal, the higher feeding the animal receives, the 
better the manure. 



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Wood ashes are generally used in connection with other ma- 
nures at the rate of about 200 bushels to the acre. Wood 
ashes should never be co)nbined with other manures, as it will 
set the ammonia free, and thus deteriorate their quality. Use 
ashes either by scattering it on the surface at the time of plant- 
ing, or when the crop is about half gro^^'n. 

In the vicinity of large towns, of all manures obtained out- 
side the barnyard, night-soil is the cheapest. The first farmer 
who used it in this localitv', comparatively but a few years 
ago, was universally jeered at by his comrades, but now near- 
ly all of our annual crop of 50,000 bushels is fed principally 
on this manure. 

The effect of kelp, (by this I mean the sea-manure which 
is thro\\Ti up by the storms on very bold shores,) when used 
as the principal manure, is to give a coarse onion, and a late 
crop ; so late as oftentimes to be in quite a green state at the 
close of the season, requiring extra labor and care to get it 
in market condition. In seasons of great drought, however, 
kelp serv^es an excellent end, in so retarding the crop that it 
is not prematurely ripened. In the excessively dry season of 
1864, crops along the sea-coast manured with kelp, in many 
instances yielded double those manured with barnyard and 
other manures. 

The manure is managed most conveniently by dropping it 
on the land in quite small heaps, at reg^alar inter\'als, at con- 
venient distance for spreading, I close this paragraph on ma- 
nures by emphasizing the utihty of a tho?'ough fining of if, 

PLOWING. 

The farmer who brings up the sub-soil on his onion bed, 
^vill find he has made a mistake. Onions do not require deep 



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plowing ; four or five inches is sufficient depth to insure a 
good crop. One of the finest pieces I ever saw was 
managed by carting on the manure in the fall, and simply 
giving it a thorough working into the soil with an ordinary 
one-horse cultivator in the spring, after which the land was 
raked and planted, no plow or an}- implement other than the 
cultivator having been used. In this instance the soil was 
naturally quite light. In the west, the ground having been 
plowed in the fall, it frequently receives only a cultivating or 
harrowing in the spring. 

As the great object is to get the land in a thoroughly fine 
condition, to facilitate the covering of the seed with fine earth, 
to leave the soil light that there may be a vigorous growth of 
the plants, and to leave the land in good working condition 
for after culture, no labor should be spared to attain this end. 
On most soils the ground should be plowed, cross-plowed, and 
thoroughly cultivated. If, from the backwardness of the 
spring and the consequent wet state of the land, the soil should 
still be lumpy, it should be thoroughly rolled before raking for 
planting, and it may be well to brush-harrow it. As onions 
grown from the seed usually require the whole season to 
ripen, the onion grower breaks ground first of all in his onion 
bed, springing to this as early in the season as is possible to 
work the land into a light and fine condition. 

THE SEED. 

In some locahties three pounds of seed was thought suffi- 
cient to an acre ; afterward this was increased to three and a 
half, and then to four ; and now, when raised for tracing, five 
and six pounds are sometimes planted. As a general rule, 
three and one-half pounds will be found sufficient for an acre ; 
and when land is very heavily manured, four pounds may be 



II 



planted with profit. Land that is planted to onions the first 
time requires more seed than old land. If it is designed to 
pull the onions when small for bunching for the early market, 
then seven or eight pounds of seed will be required for an acre. 
If the intent is to raise the very smallonio ns known as ^^setts," 
which are stored over winter to be planted in the spring to 
produce early onions, than a much larger quantity will be 
required. On old beds where rust abounds, I have known 
sixteen pounds of seed sown to the acre. Of course it is of 
the first importance that the seed should be rehable. 

Compared with the average return of the crop, the cost of 
good seed for planting an acre of land to onions, even at the 
highest prices, is not to be considered a moment beside the 
acceptance of doubtful seed everi as a gift; yet every onion- 
growing community has had its stories to tell of cultivators 
who have thrown away their time, labor and manure, by pur- 
chasing doubtful seed at a Httle lower figure than that at 
which reliable seed could be procured. New seed will some- 
times fail to vegetate if planted a little too deep, or if snow 
falls and remains on the ground after planting, or a rain falls 
after raking and just before planting, though part of the same 
piece planted but an hour before may come finely. 

The usual test for good seed, that is, seed that will vege- 
tate, is the sinking of it ; that which will sink being consid- 
ered rehable, and that which floats being considered worth- 
less. This will answer as a general rule, but it is not wholly 
reliable. Seed that will sink will not always vegetate, while 
seed that will float, under some circumstances, will vege- 
tate. Any farmer who tests his seed by the sinking process 
will find that some of that which floats will vegetate, while no 
farmer is safe in planting seed that is two years old, though it 
will sink. Some farmers ascertained this latter fact to theii 



12 



great loss during the spring of 1864. If the season is an av- 
erage one, such seed as is two years old can be relied upon if 
it has weight sufficient to sink it ; but such a season as the 
spring of 1864, being unusually wet, much of the two-years 
seed that was sown^ though sown by farmers who had them- 
selves raised it, failed to vegetate. 

The lesson to be learned by such unfortunate result is, that 
it is never perfectly safe to sow seed that is two years old, and 
that the only way a prudent cultivator will use it will be when 
mixed with a large proportion of fresh seed. There are two 
special risks incidental to the sinking test ; first, the danger 
that the seed will not be thoroughly dried, as onion seed when 
containing sufficient moisture to cause it to sprout if stored in 
bulk, appears dry to the eye ; again, the vitality of onion seed 
is very apt to be hurt by the dr}dng of it, particularly so, as it 
is usually deferred until just pre\-ious to planting, when mat- 
ters are greatly hurried, (as the risk of injury through this pro- 
cess is considered too great to permit it to be sunk earlier in 
the season,) and then it is likely to be exposed too near the 
kitchen stove. Seed thoroughly winnowed by the wind, on a 
large sheet spread on some open spot, free from all eddies, 
will be found to give a quality very nearly or quite as free 
from light seed as the sinking process. As the objection just 
presented does not lie against this process, it is decidedly pref- 
erable. The only reliable test for the \dtaHty of any variety 
of seed is that which includes all the usual conditions of growth- 
Testing by planting in a hot-house or in a box in a common 
house, is not fully reliable, because the seed are not surround- 
ed by the conditions of natural gro^vth, — they then have a 
temperature very mild, and very nearly constant, \^'ith no ex- 
ces::s of moisture or dryness, — whereas the natural condition 
of vegetation includes the very var}nng temperature of early 



13 



spring, usually a great excess of moisrore and a low degree of 
heat, all of which causes, either single or combined in their 
effects, draw largely on the \'ital power of the seed. Hence, 
seed that under the favoring influences of the hot-house or 
kitchen may vegetate, may not have sufficient \italit}' to over- 
come the excessive cold or moisture of the garden. The re- 
sult, therefore, of the usual experimental tests can be relied 
upon as gi^ing only an approximation to the truth. 

Among these approximate tests is the simple one of par- 
tially filling a tumbler with cotton-wool, pouring in a Kttle water, 
not sufficient to cover the cotton, then sprinkling a certain 
number of seed on the cotton, covering it \dth a little addi- 
tional cotton to keep the moisture in. Another simple test is 
to sprinkle the seed to be tested on a moist woolen cloth, fold 
the cloth together, and put it in a place moderately vrarm. 
The proportion of seed tliat is good will be kno^^'n by the 
proportion that sprout. Experienced eyes can learn some- 
thing by the appearance and feel of the seed. Old seed re- 
quire several days longer to vegetate than new. 

WHAT KIND OF OXIOXS TO PLAXT. 

Foreign catalogues describe a score and more varieties of 
onion which are raised in Europe, but as far as experiments 
have been made with them in this countn-, it has been fo^und 
that European-grown onion seed cannot be relied upon to 
give as good bulbs as American-grown of the same varieties ; 
T\'hile many sorts are not adapted to our chmate. A measure 
of the dubious quaht}' of this foreign seed is well indicated 
hy the lower price at which it is generally catalogued. 

Of those grown from seed, the Large Red, Yellow, and 
WTiite are the tlnree standard varieties in the United States. 



14 



The Large Red is commonly known as the Wethersfield 
onion, it having been extensively cultivated in that locality at 
an early day in onion culture. This is commonly divided 
into four varieties, viz : 

Late Large Red (see illustration) is a 
very large, thick, late onion, attaining a 
diameter of from three to six inches, and 
on the fertile prairies of the west, not un- 
frequently eight inches. 

Second Early, which differs only in size and time of ripen- 
ing ; being rather flatter than the large sort, not so large, and 
coming to maturity earlier. 

The Early Flat Red is still flatter in form, smaller in size, 
rather light-colored, and matures earliest of the three sorts ; 
as early as the last of July. 

There is also a fine Globe variety of Early Red onion 
(see illustration) in cultivation, which 
comes to maturity about a week earher 
than the Dan vers Early, is of good size 
and flavor, and in color usually of a very 
bright, handsome red. The seed of this 
variety is much sought after by onion- 
growers, but it is difficult to procure in a pure state. 

There is a very handsome late variety of onion known as 
Southport Red Globe, which originated in Southport, Con- 
necticut. It is quite late and therefore not safe to plant 
north of Connecticut. 

There are four varieties of the Yellow onion in cultivation^ 
of which the Yellow Flat, called also Yellow Dutch, and 
Strasburg, and in the Eastern States the " Silverskin," is the 





15 

parent. These varieties are the Common Flat onion, the 
Early Cracker onion, the Danvers onion, and the Interme- 
diate onion. 

The Common Flat (incorrectly called Silverskin in the 
Eastern States, a name which properly belongs to the White 
Portugal) is not so generally cultivated since the Early Dan- 
vers was introduced, as formerly. It grows to a diameter of 
about three inches, is compact in its structure, and of good 
flavor. It is a good keeper. 

The Early Cracker onion (see illustra- 
tion) is very thin, of a beautiful honey color, 
quite compact, and oftentimes hollows a lit- 
tle at the bulb around the neck. It ma- 
tures about a week or ten days earlier than 
the Early Danvers, and in fineness of structure and delicacy 
of flavor is unsurpassed. 

The great practical objection to the cultivation of this on- 
ion on an extensive scale is the extreme care required in 
handhng it ; it needs care to prevent bruising and consequent 
rotting. For using in the fall, this objection would not lie 
against it with any great force ; this and the Early Flat Red 
are excellent varieties for raising where the seasons are short. 
It grows to a diameter of from two and a half to four inches. 

The Early Round Danvers Yellow onion, was originat- 
ed by Mr. Daniel Buxton and brother of South Danvers, by 
careful selections of the roundest and earhest specimens from 
the Yellow Flat onion. The Danvers is an early onion, ma- 
turing within about a week or ten days of the Early Red and 
Cracker onions. It is very prolific, and, like the Red Globe 
onion, gives larger crops by about one-third than the flat va- 
rieties. When each are seen just before pulling, the differ- 
ence in the bulk of the crop is not very apparent, but when 




i6 



measured, the globular form of the Danvers ''tells." When 
overgrown by too thin planting of seed this onion is at times 
rather coarse in structure, but ordinarily it is very compact, 
fine of structure, heavy, and a good keeper. When well rip- 
ened, I find it keeps equally well under the same circumstances 
as the common Flat onion. The earliness of the Danvers 
onion is a great gain in short seasons, or very wet ones ; and 
as this onion begins to form its bulb quite early in its growth, 
("bottoms down" is the farmer's phrase,) it presents marked 
advantages over the flat sorts for early marketing. In the 
Boston market the Danvers sells for somewhat more a barrel 
than the Red. 

Having had considerable experience in selecting onions for 
seed i^urposes, I find that I can obtain a much greater pro- 
portion of handsome, well-developed seed onions from 
onions that have been raised from seed stock that has been 
carefully selected through a long series of years, and am led 
to believe that there can be ^'pedigree" onions as well as 
pedigree cattle, and that seed raised from them can be relied 
on under the same conditions to give a handsomer onion 
than can the average of seed. 

WHITE PORTUGAL. 

The cultivation of this early onion is mostly confined to 
the raising and planting of wiiat are known as "Setts" or 
Button onions, or onions for early family use, as it is a poor 
keeper. It is a sweet, mild onion, of a good size for family 
use, though averaging considerably smaller than the varieties 
that have been described. Here let me say, that, for family 
use, except for frying, the common onions of the market are 
much too large to be economical, — the two outer layers of 
an onion four inches and upwards in diameter, though mak- 



17 



ing up about half the bulk of the onion, are usually coarse 
and tough, and slough off when boiled. The sweetest, ten- 
derest, and most economical onions for this purpose of the 
yellow sort are those that are from two to three inches in 
diameter. 

THE QUEEN. 

Of the newer sorts, the ^'Queen," a white English variety 
growing to from two to two and one-half inches in diameter, 
is doubtless the earliest at present known ; so early that under 
favorable circumstances it may grow to a market size about 
as soon as those raised from Philadelphia setts. 

SOUTHPORT WHITE GLOBE. 

This is a large, globular, white variety, that is about as 
round and, when cured in the shade, about as vdiite as a 
snow-ball, being the handsom.est of all onions. It is too late 
to be planted with safety in latitude north of southern Con- 
necticut. 

MARZAJOLE, MAMMOTH TRIPOLI, NASBEY'S 
MAMMOTH AND GIANT ROCCA. 

Are European varieties that grow to a mammoth size in 
Southern Europe where for their mild flavor they are held in 
high esteem. Grown in this country they are of a milder 
flavor than our common sorts, but, though they grow larger, 
do not attain to the size they acquire in Europe, and though 
excellent for use in a green state are not good as keepers. 

There are usually the distinctions I have here stated be- 
tween the late and early varieties ; but some times drought 
and other causes will almost destroy these distinctions, ripen- 
ing the very early and medium early sorts at the same time. 



i8 

WHAT ONIONS SHALL I RAISE? 

Having described the standard varieties, a beginner may 
query in his mind as to what variety would be most profitable 
and most reliable for him to cultivate. 

The Danvers onion is the handsomest shaped, yields as 
much as any othet sort, and more than any ot the flat varie- 
ties, per acre. In the town of Marblehead, over nine 
hundred bushels have been raised on one acre of land. 
It is an onion very popular in the Eastern market and in 
Eastern Massachusetts is raised to almost the exclusion of any 
other variety. The Large Red onion is quite a favorite in 
the west, and is considered by some dealers to be the best 
variety for shipping purposes, though the Danvers is also 
shipped largely. Those who live in the latitude where the 
onion is difficult to mature from the seed in one year, affirm 
that the Red onion will mature farther south than any other 
variety. 

After all, whatever suggestions may be offered, the local 
demand will do most for settling this point. Aside from this, 
I would recommend the Early Red Globe Danvers as, on the 
whole^ the most desirable sort. The Red Globe is somewhat 
hardier than the Danvers. 

ONION SETTS OR BUTTON ONION. 

In that portion of the United States south of the vicinity of 
New York City, onions from seed raised as far south as the 
Middle States cannot be relied on to mature the first year, 
owing to the extreme heat of the climate forcing the forma- 
tion of the bulb and drying down the top quite early in the 
season. But if the seed was grown in the Northern States 
from carefully selected stocky it will mature onions the first 
season when ])lanted in the Southern States, as I learn from 



19 



several of my correspondents, some of whom have grown 
them of market size the first season as far south as Texas. 
As a rule such onions are hardly as large as those grown far- 
ther north, but yet amply large enough for market. To give 
the rule concisely, if gardeners in the south wish to raise 
onions from the black seed so that they will grow to market 
size the first season, they should procure seed grown as far 
north as possible; and vice versa, gardeners in the North 
who wish to grow their own setts should procure southern 
grown seed. If in these southern latitudes two years are 
given to the maturing of the crop, the first year, the ground 
is prepared as already directed, excepting that it is but lightly 
manured ; broad, shallow drills, from one to two inches in 
width, are made about ten inches apart, and these are sown 
early in spring, very thickly, at the rate of about thirty pounds 
to the acre, and the crop becomes mature in July, wdien it is 
pulled and stored in cool, airy lofts, being spread very thinly 
over the floor, — those raised from the White Portugal onion 
to a depth of about two inches, and those from the yellow 
sorts to a depth of about four inches. A gentle raking occa- 
sionally is of advantage to promote dryness and to prevent 
sprouting. The yellow variety is the best for keeping, and 
hence will bear the confinement incident to transportation 
Vv ith less injury ; but the clean, white appearance of the onion 
raised from the w^hite setts gives them the preference in the 
market. Attempts are often made in the north by market- 
gardeners to raise their own setts and thus save the large 
outlay often required to purchase them, — for most of the early 
onions now used in the northern cities are raised from the 
setts. The attempts to raise them in the north were former- 
ly for the most part a failure ; a large proportion of the setts 
so raised pushing seed shoots and thus spoiling the onion for 
market purposes, for the reason that northern grown seed 



20 



was used. The true sett is an onion that has been checked 
in its annual gi'owth and dried down before it has matured, — 
hence it has an additional growth to make before its annual 
growth is matured, and before this there can be no seed shoot 
pushed, for the onion is a biennial plant and the seed shoot 
belongs to the second year of its growth. 

Setts are planted in rows about ten inches apart, and two 
or three inches distant in the row. As the ground worms are 
very apt to remove them when first planted, the bed should 
be occasionally examined. Some roll them immediately after 
planting, others hold to dropping them in shallow drills, not 
covering them at all with earth. 

Onion setts var}^ in size from a pea to a hazel-nut. The 
smaller the size of the setts, the greater the number of onions 
contained in a given quantity ; but many find it for their 
interest to purchase setts of a good size, as they yield larger 
onions. Among the market-gardeners in the vicinity of the 
large cities onion setts are ver}^ extensively planted, some 
planting as high as one hundred and fifty bushels annually. 
The quantity planted per acre varies with the size, from six 
to ten bushels. 

RARERIPES. 

Rareripes are onions raised by planting out biilbs of the 
growth of the previous season. The Rareripe oftentimes dif- 
fers from the onion sett only in being a matured onion, as 
frequently they are about as small as the setts. The method 
of raising them is the same as that of raising early onions 
from setts, with the difference of planting them at times at 
greater distance apart in the row proportionate vrith their 
greater size. The raising of Rareripes is a very profitable way 
of disposing of such onions as are badly sprouted, are very 



small, or in any way unprofitable for marketing. A seed shoot 
may be unifomily expected from each onion ; but as this 
greatly deteriorates the quality of the Rareripe, making it 
tough and woody in structure, it should always be cut off. If 
cut off before the swelled growth appears, (a striking charac- 
teristic of the onion family and a proof of the skill of the 
Di\dne .\rchitect, in strengthening by so simple a process the 
tall, thin stalk designed to support the hea\y seed head.) it 
will again shoot up ; wait, therefore, until this swelling begins 
to show itself, and then cut below it, and no more trouble 
from this source will ensue. The smaller the onions planted 
as Rareripes, the handsomer will be the crop, — the very small 
ones producing each one handsome round onion, while the 
large ones produce two or more which are irregular in form. 

POTATO ONIONS, TOP ONIONS AND SHALLOTS. 

Potato onions, (see engraving.) 
Top onions and Shallots are thought 
by some to have originated from the 
common onion. It is certain that 
at times all three of these varieties 
are sported by the common onion. 
In a large field of seed onions, occasionally small onions will 
be found, growing in place of seed, and these onions when 
set out the ensuing spring will vegetate and develop readily, 
but they Vvill not always in turn yield the hke, /. e., Top 
onions. 

Potato onions, or multiphing onions, as they are some- 
times called, are a thick, hard-fleshed varietv% very mild and 
pleasant to the taste, and tender if eaten soon after gathering, 
but they grow to be tough as the season advances. They 
are poor keepers, unless spread yctv thinly in some dry 




22 



apartment. They are propagated by planting the bulbs in 
drills, fourteen inches apart, the largest ones six, the smaller 
four inches apart in the row, and the smallest ones two 
inches. The small ones rapidly increase and make onions 
from two to three inches in diameter, while the larger ones 
divide and make from four to a dozen or even sixteen 
(usually from five to eight) small, irregularly shaped onions. 
It will be seen that the larger bulbs answer the same purpose 
as the seed in the common onion ; hence to have onions for 
sale and yet maintain the stock, it is necessary that both 
sizes should be planted. 

The Potato onion should be indulged for its best develop- 
ment in a soil rather moister than the varieties from seed. 
The advantage of the Potato onion is its earliness, and the 
fact that it is not as liable to injury from the onion maggot, 
when that abounds, as the common sort. I have seen an 
instance where, on half an acre of each growing side by side, 
the common onion (that raised from seed) was almost wholly 
destroyed, while the Potato onion was nearly uninjured. 

Shallots differ from Potato onions principally in their 
characteristics of always multiplying ; a Shallot never gj'ows 
into a large roimd onion, but always multiplies itself, forming 
bulbs that average more oblong and are usually smaller than 
those of the Potato onion. I find them occasionally pushing 
a seed shoot, which I have never seen in the Potato onion. 
Their habit of growth is finer, making a longer and more 
slender leaf than the Potato onion. They are mild of flavor, 
and greatly excel every other variety of the onion family in 
their keeping properties : with Httle care they may be kept 
the year round. All seedsmen do not know the difference 
between the Potato onion and the Shallot. Within a few 
years I have twice had Shallots sent me under the name 
Potato onion." 



23 



Top onions are propagated from little bulbs, which grow in 
this variety where the seeds grow in the common sorts. They 
grow to a large size, are pleasant, mild flavored, rather 
coarsely and loosely made up, and have the reputation of 
being poor keepers. Raised like the Potato onion. 

SEED SOWING MACHINES. 

There are a variety of machines in the market for sowing 
onion and other seed, but most or all of them can be 
arranged in four classes, viz; Brush Sowers, Snap Sowers, 
Drop Sowers and Agitators. 

Brush machines are those in which the seed is forced out 
by a brush contained in the seed box. The characteristic 
feature in this class of seed planters is of English origin, and 
has passed through various modifications in this country. 

The Brush machine, 
an engraving of which 
is here presented, 
makes the drills, drops 
the seed, covers and 
rolls it ; it is adapted 
for planting all the 
common root crops. 

The rows in this machine are marked out by a chain, two 
of which hang near the handles and drag on the ground, 
being-used alternately. The wheel is pushed along the mark 
made by the chain. 

The principle on which the '"Snap" machine is founded is 
the securing the flow of seed through the aperture by a 
jerking motion, which is usually effected by a spring which 
makes a snapping noise when set free. 




24 



One of the machines built on this principle is known as the 
Danvers Onion Sower. (See engraving.) 




but few parts, and hence is but little liable to get out of 
order, and when out of order can readily be repaired by any 
blacksmith, it was quite a favorire wiih onion-raisers, but im- 
proved implements have to a large degree taken the place 
of it. 

The Danvers machine opens the furrows, drops the seed, 
covers it, but does not roll it. Farmers usually attach an old 
horseshoe to the end of the seed coverer, which gives 
sufficient weight to make it answer the purposes of a roller. 

Matthews' Garden Seed Drill is a fine example of the seed 
planters on the "agitator" principle. This agitator is a finger 
of iron in the seed box which projects just over the orifice 
from which the seed drops and by a motion given it by the 
revolving of the vdieel, keeps the seed continually stirred and 
thus prevents its clogging, — a trouble to every gardener when 
planting such seed as beet and parsnip. Were I called upon 
to recommend a seed sower for general work it would be the 
Matthews : all in the market have more or less of good 
qualities but I have found that the ^latthews combines more 
than any other one. 

On light soil hand cultivators are useful. These are now 



25 



sold combined with seed 
sowers, so that the same 
implement may be used 
for either purpose. 

The Matthews' hand 
Cultivator is a good il- 
lustration of this class. 
(See engraving.) 

In these machines the seed falls through holes in little 
slides of tin, different slides being substituted as the seed to 
be sown is larger or smaller, or the quantity to be planted is 
greater or less. Farmers will often find it for their interest to 
enlarge or diminish the size of these holes. The holes in the 
tin of the Danvers sower, to give a liberal sowing of about 
four and a half pounds to the acre, should be large enough 
to drop ten to fourteen onion seed to each snap. By putting 
the hand under and counting the seed which falls in a dozen 
snappings of the machine, a reliable average can be ascer- 
tained. As the size of onion seed often varies, no particular 
size of hole can be relied upon : it must be tested for each 
season. Another convenient test is to trundle the machine 
over the barn floor, or a newspaper spread and secured in the 
field, and obser\^e how thickly the seed fall. For a beginner 
the first test is the better one. 

Of the sower which drops the seed in hills I will treat 
presently under the head of "Onions with Carrots." 

PLANTING THE SEED. 

Having selected our seed sower and regulated it, the next 
step is to plant the seed. It is exceedingly necessary that 
the first row planted should be straight, as this becomes a 
measure of straightness for all the others. A steady hand and 




26 



a straight eye are of great value here ; but with a little 
practice a good degree of acc^uracy can be obtained by most 
persons, though a few will ahvays find it for their profit to 
hire some experienced hand. Two or tliree sticks may sen-e 
to mark out the first row, and by keeping these bearing on 
each other as the machine is pushed along, the first line must 
be a straisfht line. In some machines the chains which dras: 
from the handle, and in others the wheels, sen-e to mark 



^^^=5=5^^^ Wheel Hoes 
(see engraving) to be used will be of a constant width it is 



tance fixed upon. The distance between the rows varies in 
difierent sections from twelve to fourteen inches ; when seed 
are planted for setts, ten inches is the usual dista^nce between 
the drills. 

The various hoes used in weeding are pushed before the 
operator and again drawn quickh' back, the operator taking 
short steps, and making the hoe cut in both the forward and 
backward sUdes. After the tops get so far grown as to bend 
over into the rows, they are apt to be caught between the 




out the rows. 
As the Scufile 
Hoes (see en- 
sravin^) and 




important that 
the T\'idth of the 
rows should be 
kept constant, 



particularly that 
they should not 
be brought 
nearer together 
than the dis- 



wheel and axle of the wheel hoe ; hence from thence forward 
the scuffle hoe should be used. 

Farmers sometmies make their own scuffle hoes out of a 




piece of an old 
saw, the teeth an- 
swering a good 
purpose in cutting 
off the weeds. 
The V-shaped hoe, 



(see engraving,) called Howard's Patent, will do excellent 
service if a weight of about two pounds be fastened around 
the handle near the ground. 

In Eastern Massachusetts fourteen inches is the usual 
distance between the rows ; while in Southern New England 
and parts of the West, twelve inches is preferred. 

Before planting the seed it should be carefully examined, 
to see that it is perfectly clean from small stones, or any 
substance that can possibly clog the hole of exit. Let it be 
remembered, when regulating the machine, that the seed will 
not be likely to fall so fast from a full hopper as they wall 
when it is nearly empty. The seed should be sown from half 
an inch to large an inch under the surface. The lighter the 
soil, the deeper the seed may be sown. It is thought that 
deep sowing has the advantage of getting the plants so 
deeply rooted that they will bear having the earth slightly 
pulled away from them in the first weeding, without so much 
injury -as sometimes results when they are planted shallow. 
While planting, as well as when using the hoe, our farmers 
will find the advantage of having a finely pulverized surface 
to work on, free of all clods, sticks and stones, as such will 
continually vsiry the straightness of the rows, interfere with 
the planting and covering of the seed, and, when the hoe is 



28 



used/ glance it out of its course in among the tender plants. 

HOEING AND WEEDING. 

In from two to three weeks, if the weather is an average 
for the season, the young plants by a close examination may 
be seen pushing their green arches above the surface, bearing 
a close resemblance to a curve of grass. As soon as suffi- 
ciently up to enable a sharp eye to determine the course of 
the rows, without delaying a day or an hour, if the weather 
permits, the prudent cultivator will sHde through his Scuffle 
Hoe, as at this season of the year the weather is very uncer- 
tain, and the land may become too wet to be worked soon 
after the young plants appear, and yet not too wet to hinder 
a rapid growth of weeds. Sowing a few radish with the 
onion seed is sometimes practised. As the radish seed veg- 
etates in a few days the rows are thereby marked out and the 
wheel hoe can be used earlier. Care need be taken that the 
radish seed are not larger than the onion and so clog the 
hole. To obtain very choice cabbage plants, which grow fine 
and stocky, farmers drop a few seed into the hopper with the 
onion seed. On so rich a seed bed, prompt action is very 
necessary, or a miserably discouraging tangle will soon be 
the result of negligence. In their comparative freedom from 
weeds the cultivators in the West, on their new land, have a 
great advantage over their brethren in the East. By selecting 
pasture land and avoiding the use of barn manure, the work 
of weeding may be greatly reduced. I have raised a crop 
on such land, when the entire expense from after the crop 
was planted until it was gathered and got into the barn was 
but $3 5.00 to the acre. It was so free of weeds that one 
man slid through, hand weeded and partly thinned an acre 
and a quarter inside of a day. In about a week after the hoe 
has i)issed through them, the young plants will need their 



29 



iirst weeding with the fingers. Tliis is hand-and-knee work 
and, pursued as it has to be in this position at inten^als through- 
out the heat of summer, it is to many the most wear}'ing work 
of the fami. Boys being more nimble fingered than men, 
besides working for lower wages, there is a great saving in 
employing Xhtm, provided they can be reUed on to pull up the 
roots of the weeds. When several are at work it will be wise 
to have a man with them. 

To protect the knees from sharp stones, ^'pads" are used, 
w^hich consist of squares of about eight inches, of several 
thicknesses of woolen usually covered with leather, strapped 
to the knees. In ordinary seasons onions require three or 
four hand-and-knee weedings, and from four to six sUdings 
\\ith the hoe. A man's judgment must be his guide. As onions 
shade the ground but slightly, weeds grow rapidly in onion 
beds ; and if they are once allowed to get the start, the labor 
of cultivation is immensely increased. Some cultivators prac- 
tice scratching the soil away from the onions when weeding, 
with an old knife cur\' ed at a right angle near the point, or by 
a piece of iron hoop cur\^ed, the end being nailed to a small 
piece of wood conveniently held in the hand. Others prac- 
tice thro\ving the soil slightly around the young onions \^'ith a 
scuffle hoe made with reference to this use, with a view of 
smothering the small weeds. Noyes' hand weeder will be found 
a very handy little implement for removing weeds, particularly 

when the surface of 
the ground is some- 
what hard. When the 
onions have begun to 
^'iDOttom down," /. e. form their bulbs, it is the general prac- 
tice to remove as far as practicable any surplus earth that has 
accumulated around them. In weeding, t^vo or three rows are 




30 



taken together, the weeds being dropped between the rows- 
Just before the crop ripens down, larger weeds will show them- 
selves here and there over the beds ; these are generally gath- 
ered in baskets and dropped at the end of the rows. If the 
seed of such weeds get ripe before they are pulled, the weeds 
should be carefully deposited in a pile in some by-place, where 
they can be burned when dry. Growers who practice throw- 
ing such weeds to their hogs because they are large and suc- 
culent, make an annual seeding of their beds with weeds. 
Particularly is this true of Purslane, one of the greatest pla- 
gues in the heat of the season. The habit of this plant is to 
ripen the seed, well down on the stock, while the main body 
of the plant is in its full vigor ; hence it usually happens that 
much seed drops into the land some time before it is pulled, 
while the farmer never mistrusts it has ripened. I have seen 
Purslane completely eradicated from garden plots where it 
formerly wa s a pest, by a little care in this matter of letting it go 
to seed. The same remarks apply to the weed known as 
chickweed. When blank spots occur from poor seed, poor 
planting, or the ravages of the onion maggot, bush beans, cab- 
bages or tomatoes may be planted. 

When the plants are too thick, over one to two inches, they 
should be thinned ; but the beginner had better pull with a 
sparing hand, for, if the ground has been manured very liber- 
ally, the crop will do well when the plants are very thickly 
together, and they will oftentimes grow as large when very 
thick as they will with three times the room. Onion-growers 
like to see their onions piled two or three deep as they grow, 
the upper layer being entirely out of the ground with the ex- 
ception of the roots. When the tops begin to fall over, the 
onion is rapidly maturing, and the bulbs will now grow very 
fast. Farmers will tell you that "the top is going down into 



31 

the Dottom." The Flat onions begin to bottom late in the 
season, while the Danvers makes a very encouraging show of 
bulb quite early. Should the land have been but poorly ma- 
nured in seasons of drought, the crop will be apt to be ripen- 
ed prematurely, forming a small sized onion, while (divided 
it may be by merely a wall) those that have been more liber- 
ally manured stand the drought, and keep green sufficiently 
long to receive advantage from the later rains ; an investment 
of twenty dollars in manure thus making a difference some- 
times of a hundred dollars in the crop. If the crop is quite 
backward, late in the season the necks of the onions are 
sometimes bent over to hasten the formation of the bulb. 
This is done by hand, or by rolling a barrel over two rows at 
a time. 

STORING THE CROP. 

When the necks have fallen over, and the great proportion 
of them are dry, the crop should be pulled by hand and be 
laid in winrows, about three rows being put in one. At this 
time all weeds remaining should be pulled and piled, prepar- 
atory to the final clearing of the bed. The pulling of the 
crop should not be delayed after the tops are well dry ; for if 
rain should now fall, the onions will be apt to re-root to their 
injury. Should the backwardness of the season make it ne- 
cessary to pull the crop in rather a green state, it will be well 
to allow it to remain untouched, after pulling, for about a week, 
before turning or stirring, which will tend to hasten the decay 
of the greener tops ; otherwise they should be carefully stirred 
every pleasant day with a wooden-toothed rake. This should 
be very carefully done, as the onions are very easily injured, 
especially at this stage, and when injured are almost as likely 
to rot as a bruised apple. See that they are not injured by 



32 



the raking or treading of a careless hand, ^\^len the crop is 
thoroughly dried, the onions feeling hard to the handling, it 
\\ill be ready for topping for market. They are carefully 
collected in baskets, rejecting all stones, scallions and rotten 
onions, and taken in wagon loads to the barn, when the tops 
are cut off clean to the onion with a sharp knife, or if the 
necks are small and quite dry they may be pulled off by the 
thumb and finger. This is usually done by boys or females 
from two to four cents a bushel. While collecting, look 
sharply on the bottom of the onions to detect rotten ones. 
Some growers prefer to leave such of the crop as they design 
to keep for a late market untopped. If it is intended to 
market the crop immediately, the onions may be piled to a 
depth of three or four feet ; otherwise they should not be ^ 
over two feet in depth. Leave the barn doors and windows 
all open eveiy pleasant day. As the crop is topped, those of 
the size of a hazel-nut and smaller are classed as pickle 
onions, these being marketed principally for that purpose, and 
usually bringing about half the price of the full gro\\ii ones. 

TRACING, OR ROPING ONIONS. 

When the crop has ripened down but poorly, the greener " 
onions are at times traced. This is done by cutting off the 
neck within about two inches of the bulb, and binding it to a 
handful of straw ; beginning at the butt end of the straw, lay 
the neck against the straw, give two or three fimi turns \rith 
the twine (net or •v\Tapping t^\ine), add another onion, and 
thus proceed till the straw is covered, the larger onions being 
tied to the bottom and gradually decreasing in size to the top. 
Onions so slowly ripened that they would soon spoil if stored 
in a mass, will keep well when traced, and oftentimes bring 
a greater profit than the best of the crop. Rareripes, 



33 



and such of the earher onions as are to be sent long dis- 
tances, or be kept awhile before marketing, are sometimes 
traced. Traced onions keep in good condition a long while 
in a dry, cool place. Within a few years tracing has almost 
ceased in this vicinity. 

MARKETING THE CROP. 

The Sett onions. Potato onions. Top onions and Rare- 
ripes, in some sections, are for the most part sent to market 
in a green state in bunches. The Potato onions are brought 
from the South, dry, in large quantities to supply the North- 
ern markets, soon after the anival of tlie Bermuda onions, 
just before the ripening of the Northern crop. After the 
Potato onions follows the earUest variety of the Red, and 
immediately after, the Danvers, and finally, the large Red 
completes the season. The sales in the Northern markets 
early in the season are made mostly for the supply of the 
local immediate demand, the great bulk of the crop not being 
sent in before the call for shipping purposes has commenced. 
For this reason, farmers find it to be for their interest to do 
but little more than feel the market until about the middle of 
October, as large purchases made previous to this period are 
mostly as an investment by speculators, with the exception 
of such lots as go to supply the markets of large towns and 
cities of the extreme North beyond the limits of the onion- 
growing region. 

The price of onions varies greatly ; they have sold as low 
as sevent\'-five cents a barrel, while the early crop of 1S64 
sold as high as sixteen dollars a barrel, by the five hundred 
barrels. From September to ^larch, in the same season, the 
fluctuation is sometimes between two dollars and six dollars. 
Crops have at times been sold to be delivered in the course 



34 



of two months^ and in that time have more than doubled in 
price. The general truth is, that those brought latest to 
market, being kept till near spring, bring the best prices. 
The great facilities afforded for onion raising by the fertile 
soil and favoring cHmate of the West, will doubdess in a few 
years tell powerfully on the Eastern market. 

PRESERVING THE CROP. 

If it is the design to keep the crop for a winter market, it 
should be stored in a cool^ dry place, out of danger from 
severe frosts, in bulk, but not over two feet in depth. Onions 
will bear a temperature of 28 degrees without injury, or any 
degree of cold if kept frozen till the final thawing when in 
bulk. It is a good plan to let them rest in a lattice work of 
slats on the sides and bottom of the building, that the air 
may circulate through them. If kept in barrels, these should 
not be headed, and should have two or three openings made 
\\dth a hatchet or large auger in the sides near the bottom. 
If it is designed to keep the onions till spring, the cheapest 
and best way is to freeze them. To do this, select the north- 
west portion of some out building under which the air does 
not circulate, spread the onions about one and a half feet in 
depth, leaving a vacant space of about two feet from the side 
of the building, let them get thoroughly frozen, then cover 
them closely with an old sail, or any cloth, to keep the hay 
from mixing with them, and spread the hay two feet or more 
in depth above the covering; also pack fine hay closely 
between the heap and the sides of the building. Here let 
them remain untouched until the frost is entirely out, when 
they should be spread at once, well aired, and turned care- 
fully and often until thoroughly dried. 

If the onions in the fall are not well ripened, or if a larger 



35 



proportion than usual are rotten, which is apt to be the case 
after a very wet season or when the onion maggot has given 
much trouble, to store largely for wdnter sales is attended with 
great risk. I have known one enterprising cultivator to sink 
several thousand dollars in a single season by storing heavily 
under such circumstances. 

SMUT, RUST AND MAGGOT. 

The onion crop is sometimes severely injured by a disease 
resembling mildew. The tops of the leaves die, and the 
whole plant is more or less covered by this white blast. 
From the effects of it the onions almost cease their growth, 
and the crop finally obtained is small in size. This disease 
in some sections is known by the name of "rust.'* It is 
more frequent in extraordinary wet seasons, and is more com- 
mon on old beds than new. The best remedy yet knowTi for 
old beds is to carefully remove from the bed and destroy at 
the close of the season all diseased bulbs, as they will be 
likely to spread the disease by giving it a lodgment in the 
soil, then ru» the plow a little deeper, and thus mix in a little 
new soil. 

The onion maggot is hatched from the eggs of a fly, which 
are deposited in the plant (not the seed) very near the sur- 
face of the ground. Its presence may be detected in the 
crop when very young by the sudden turning yellow and fall- 
ing- over of the plant, when, if the attempt is made to pull, it 
will usually break off near the surface, and on squeezing sev- 
eral small maggots will present themselves. Some writers 
state that the fly deposits its eggs only at an early period in 
the growth of the plant. It is true that some seasons the in- 
jury is most marked previous to the bottoming of the onion, 
but I have seen beds injured at every stage of their growth, 



36 



and in one season about half of the crop was destroyed by 
the maggot at the close of the season after the onions had 
been pulled. Various remedies have been proposed, but of 
these it may be said that they are not practical on a large 
scale. The idea on which nicst of these is based is ti:at of 
producing a scent so disagreeable as to drive away the fly ; 
but old experimenters recall the capacity of the Canker-wonn 
moth and the S:uash be;?:le to ignore the most repulsive 
obstructions of this kind when stimuiated :y their instinct to 
deposit their eggs. Pine savrdusr. eihter clear, soaked in the 
urine of cattle, or in the antra cniacal liruor from gasworks, 
scattered over the bed just before the appearance of the 
plants, at the rate of a bushel to ten square rods, guaa: 
sprinkled along the rows and on the plants, twice during th: 
season, unleached ashes used in the same manner. — these have 
given satisfactory results tD sicne growers. Scalding water 
poured from a common watering-po: tinough a hcie the size 
of a pipe stem, along the criiis near the r:::s of toe plants, 
and repeated three or fcur times during a season, is said to 
be efficacious. It is obvious that the practical vaiue of -uch 
a remedy must be conhned to a v-ry smail area of land. 

In New England the maggc: has :een slowiy making his 
way North, adding greatly to the uncerraint}' of the crop, 
until his ravages have extended to Southern Massacitusett-. 
Very light soils appear to be m:st axbctcd by his ra^'ages. In 
some seasons the imury d:ne is insignificant, and on the 
whole the area planted in ^Lassachusetts has not been mate- 
rially reduced. 

He ^^hll one year conhne his ravages mostly to one portion 
of a township, and the next season re\-erse matters ; while 
some tracts are almost never iup;rr-h on others he rrvccr^ ::> 
settle do^^l as a permanent resident. 



37 



RAISING ONION SEED. 

What does all this investment of money, time, labor and 
watchfulness, amount to if the seed is worthless, has no vital- 
ity, is not true to name, or was grown from worthless trash? 
Onion seed should be raised from the very best onions of the 
very best crop grown in the vicinity. The best t}^e should 
be first selected, which should be a medium sized onion, very 
hard and compact in structure, with a close, thin, fine skin, 
and a very small neck. Those selected for seed should be 
the earliest ripened of the crop, provided such are fully ripen- 
ed and not blighted. To select the earUest onions, the 
seed grower should visit the field before the crop is pulled. 

Onion seed is sometimes (I fear too often) grown from the 
entire crop, be it good, bad or indifferent. A great step of 
improvement on this is to purchase outright as good a crop 
as can be found ; but the only way to secure and keep the 
best and most reliable seed is that first given. Poor onion 
seed is always very dear indeed, as a present, while first-class 
seed at the highest price yet paid is worth a long and careful 
seeking. 

Seed onions should be kept in a cool, dry place, spread to 
about a foot in depth ; if kept in barrel, (old Hme casks are 
best) these should be left unheaded, and two or three pieces 
should be chopped off near the bottom to admit a circulation 
of air. As early in the spring as the ground can be worked, 
they- should be set out in trenches, (the onion when covered 
in trenches will stand a heavy frost \\dthout injury,) which 
should be from three to four feet apart and about four inches 
below the surface, the land having first been heavily manured. 
Some good seed growers apply their manure directly in the 
trench, while others spread it broadcast and plow in. I pre- 



3S 



fer to plow in a liberal quantity, and then use ashes, super- 
phosphate of lime or guano, in the rows, applying it just 
before covering onions. If the onions are much sprouted, 
the sprout may be cut off quite home to the onion, which 
will insure a straighter and healthier growth. Care should be 
taken to plant right end up, for, odd as it sounds, in the 
spring it sometimes requires a little care to determine which 
is the right end. As soon as the onion is well rooted, the 
earth should be drawn up to it ; and this should be done 
three times during the season, until the earth is heaped around 
them eight or ten inches above the surface of the ground. 
The first hoeing should be given them very soon after the 
sprout starts, to fully cove?- the 07iio?i^ as when exposed it is 
very apt to decay. With this support, on land that is not too 
moist, I find that no further precaution is necessar}^ to keep 
the seed tops from the ground, though it is the practice 
of many growers to support with light strips of wood, or a 
line drawn along about two feet from the ground. After the 
last hoeing, (and very clean culture should be given then), 
they should be gone among as httle as possible. 

The seed tops may be safely cut (leaving about six inches 
of the stem on) when the seed vessels begin to crack; or 
what is a better guide yet (for after the seed vessels begin to 
crack much seed is apt to be lost, especially by heavy storms.) 
after the turning yellow, near the ground, of the seed stalk ; 
when this occurs, the top may be removed immediately^ even 
though it should appear quite green above. 

Seed tops will be often found in which the seed in the 
shortest- stemmed receptacles is ripened, and the receptacles 
themselves are cracked, while a fresh growth of seed vessels 
in a green state almost conceal them ; in such cases I would 
advise the cutting of the top. The tops when cut should be 



39 



spread to a depth of six inches or less, in a warm place 
where heat and air abound, and be turned two or three times 
daily, until thoroughly dried, when the seed is ready to be 
threshed out ; or it may be stored in barrels in a dry loft, and 
threshed as wanted. If the seed is plump and has been well 
ripened, the frequent turning of the stalks will have shaken 
out by far the larger proportion of it, — in some seasons more 
than five-sixths. 

As the seed stalks make but little shade, the ground be- 
tween the rows can be cultivated to spinach, lettuce, 
radishes, turnips, or some early vegetables, then this will make 
the hilling of the seed more costly, and when these are har- 
vested, be planted to cucumbers for pickles. The planting 
betw^een the rows should be confined to the middle, and in 
trenches an inch or so below the surface, unless it be made 
after the onions have received their final hoeing ; otherwise 
the drawing of the earth around the seed stalks will seriously 
interfere with these crops. 

Strange as it may seem to those who have not tried it, such 
rampant growers such as squashes can be raised among seed 
onions and generally with no material injury to the seed. I 
have known five tons of Hubbard Squashes grown on about 
half an acre of ground planted to seed onions. The squash 
should be planted towards the close of INIay, after the onions 
have received their final hilling, two or three seeds being 
planted close to every other row, and about nine feet apart in 
the row ; allov/ hut one plan ^ /o groiu in a hill. The vines, 
thus having plenty of room between the rovrs to spread about, 
do not incline much to climbing on the seed stock. Care 
should be exercised to break off at once the tendrils of such 
as attempt to climb. The one plant to a hill system vdW be 



40 



found to yield as liberal a crop and finer squashes than the 
old system of three or four to the hill. 

The yield of onion seed to the barrel of seed onions varies 
greatly j indeed, no investments near the seaboard prove 
more speculative. The maggot sometimes proves very de- 
structive, so much so that the crop will not average half a 
pound to the barrel, while under very favoring circumstances 
crops have been raised which average eighteen pounds to the 
barrel. 

When the seed is fully dry, (and seed that has been sunk 
should have a long exposure to the air and frequent stirrings ; 
I have known large lots spoilt from want of care in this) , it 
should be so stored as to be safe from all injury from cats and 
other animals, who are apt to resort to it, to the utter de- 
struction of its vitality. 

IL\ISING CARROTS WITH ONIONS. 

The plan of raising carrots with onions is considered a great 
improvement by many who have adopted it, as the yield of 
carrots is thought to be a clear gain, diminishing but little or 
none the yield of onions. Carrots are planted in two ways ; 
one by sowing them in drills between every other row of 
onions, and the other, which is considered an improvement, 
called the Long Island plan, by planting the onions in hills 
from seven to eight inches from center to center, dropping 
a number of seed in each hill, and from the first to the 
twelfdi of June planting the carrot seed, usually by hand, 
between these hills in two rows, then skipping one, and thus 
on through the piece. Thq onions as they are pulled are 
thrown into every third row, the carrots being left to mature. 
By this method from two hundred to six hundred bushels of 
carrots are raised per acre in addition to the usual crop of 



1 



41 



onions. More manure is required for the l^vo crops than for 
the onions alone. 

The Machine used for sowing in drills has two boxes 
attached to the axle at equidistance from the wheels ; there 
are three or four holes in the axle that communicate with the 
seed in the boxes, and as these holes pass under the boxes 
they are filled with seed, and as they turn the seed are 
dropped into the earth. Screws are sunk into the holes, 
which can be sunk more or less at pleasure, and the quantity 
of seed which the holes will contain is thus graded. 

The machine should first be tested and so regulated that 
on a barn floor it will drop from eleven to twelve seed from 
each hole. When so regulated, on using in the field it wili 
drop but from seven to twelve, owing to the more uneven 
motion. 

This, like all sowing machines, and the same may be said 
of the scuffle hoe and wheel hoe, is pushed along before the 
operator. 

My farmer-friends, I have now given you the result of my 
own experience in the raising of onions. Potato onions, Top 
onions. Shallots, and onion Setts, combined with the experi- 
ence in onion growing of a neighborhood where a hundred 
thousand bushels are raised annually, with the results of per- 
sonal observation in other localities, and with facts that I have 
collected by corres^^-onding with different sections of the 
United States. 



42 



ANALYSIS OF THE ONIONS. 

A recent analysis, under the direction of Prof. Goessmar 
oi the ^Massachusetts Agiicultural College, gives the following 
as the principal constituents of the onion : 

Air dry onions without leaves were found to consist of : 
Water (at ioo° to iio° C.) . . 89.20 per cent. 
Dr}' vegetable matter . . . 10.80 
and contained the follovdng amounts of — 

Nitrogen ..... 0.212 per cent. 

Sulphur ...... 0.048 

Ash . - . . . . . 0.436 " 

The percentages of the principal constituents of the ash 
were : 

Potassium oxide .... 3S.51 per cent. 
Sodium oxide .... 1.90 

Calcium oxide . . . . 8.20 
]Magnesium oxide . . , . 3-65 " 
Sesquioxide of iron . . . 0.58 
Silicic acid . . . . . 3.33 

Phosphoric acid . . . . 15.80 " 
Sulphuric acid not determined. 
.In the above table Potassium oxide. Sodium oxide, Cal- 
• cium oxide and Magnesium oxide, mean practically pure- 
Potash, Soda, Lime and ^Magnesia. 

I infer from the table that of the three grand essentials in 
manure, Nitrogen, Potash and Phosphoric acid, the onion 
requires about equal quantities of the two former and half as 
much of the latter. 

I trust this contribution will prove acceptable. 

TAMES J. H. GREGORY. 

Marblehead, ]Mass. 



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